Beauty Reviews, Advice, Tips and Tricks

What is “Waist to Hip” Ratio?

After doing research of several different websites, I’ve come up with three definitive answers. They are:

An indicator of overall health & wellbeing

A measure of sexual attractiveness

An indicator of fertility

A WHR of 0.7 for women and 0.9 for men have been shown to correlate strongly with general health and fertility. Women within the 0.7 range have optimal levels of estrogen and are less susceptible to major diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disorders and ovarian cancers. Men with WHRs around 0.9, similarly, have been shown to be more healthy and fertile with less prostate and testicular cancer. Women with a 0.7 WHR are usually rated as more attractive by men from Indo-European cultures.

Beauty icons such as Marilyn Monroe, Jessica Alba, Salma Hayek, and Sophia Loren typically have ratios close to 0.7, even though they have different weights and heights. In other cultures, preferences appear to vary according to some studies, ranging from 0.6 in China,to 0.8 or 0.9 in parts of South America and Africa, and divergent preferences based on ethnicity, rather than nationality, have also been noted.